Cupcakes are back! In case you’re unfamiliar, Cupcakes (Preston Graves, Greg Soran, Sol Snyder, Matt Walker) were the proverbial “next big thing” out of Chicago in 2000 when their eponymous album came out. The band imploded before they ever had a real shot, and most of the members moved on to higher-profile gigs (American Idol, Morrissey, Bryan Adams, B-52’s). Singer Preston Graves joins me mere days before the band does their reunion show, headlining Metro on 2/29. So why are they getting back together after all this time, and what exactly happened back then?

Fueling this week’s chat is delicious food from north side staple Cafe El Tapatio (3400 N. Ashland). Thanks to the team there for providing the eats… go visit them and check it out for yourself!

Discussed this week:

• Preston has zero working knowledge of Mexican cuisine. Thank goodness we had Cafe El Tapatio to help guide him.
• Preston’s worked all over Chicago.
• The Chicago scene of the 90s.
• How and why Cupcakes are back together.
• The lack of rehearsals leading up to the 2/29 show.
• Greg’s time performing with/on American Idol.
• All the juke and jiving that goes on.
• Sol Snyder: “I love me some Sol!”
• The band’s expectations when they first got signed: “(be) on tour forever.”
• “Woodshed” is a total Chicago term.
• How the band found out the label was done with them.
• Wait… HOW bad was it between Preston and Greg?
• What made Preston so impossible to deal with back in the day?
• The “incident” where Preston pissed me off live on stage at a radio event.
• Matt Walker has a cool LinkedIn profile. Also? He’s a human metronome.
• We miss the Hothouse Flowers.

GET TICKETS FOR THE METRO SHOW ASAP! This is a must-see event!

Thanks to our friends at C&H Financial Services for sponsoring this episode. We couldn’t do it without them.